Just a month after turning 90, longtime character actor Dick Miller has died, according to Variety.
A familiar face in films ranging from cult classics to blockbusters, Miller made his name in Roger Corman (b. 1926) and Joe Dante (b. 1946) films — and appeared in every film Dante ever directed.
Born December 25, 928, in the Bronx, the WWII vet worked onstage, including Broadway, in the '50s ahead of his film debut, in the 1955 Corman western Apache Woman. The film was notable for Miller playing both a townsman and a Native American — and acting both parts even when one killed the other.
Another running joke throughout Miller's career was casting him as men named "Walter Paisley" — with the actor playing characters by that name a half-dozen times.
Among Miller's most memorable turns was his first stab at Paisley, in A Bucket of Blood (1959). Other major appearances include in The Howling (1981), as Murray Futterman in Gremlins (1984), in The Terminator (1984) and a recurring role as a bartender on the TV series of Fame (1984-1987).
He wound up working in more than 100 other projects right up until the end of his life, with two films listed on IMDb as in the can.
Miller also appeared in the highly regarded doc Shlock!: The Secret History of American Movies (2001) and in a doc dedicated to his own career, That Guy Dick Miller (2014).
He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Lainie; one daughter; and one granddaughter.
